Brief report: Expressive and collaborative relationship processes in observations of adolescents’ interactions with parents and romantic partners

This study examines observations of participants (N=64) interacting with family members at age 13 and romantic partners at age 20–21. Scales capturing expressive processes and collaborative processes were used to test and find support for the differential prediction that family collaborative processes at age 13 would predict both expressive processes and collaborative processes with romantic partners at age 20–21, whereas expressive processes at age 13 would predict only concurrent collaborative processes. Results suggest that continuity in relationship functioning is more differentiated than is commonly expected.